1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the packaging of electronic components in a data processing or a similar system and, more particularly, to the cooling of the electronic components.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the density of electronic elements in the component packages used in data processing and other electronic systems has increased, the removal of heat generated in the packages has provided an increasingly severe problem. The simplest technique for cooling the component packages has been the immersion of the circuit board with coupled active components in cooling liquid, gas or mixture thereof. While this technique provides adequate thermal control of active circuit components in many applications, because heat transfer is a function of the difference in temperature between two regions, as the cooling medium in the vicinity of the component package increases in temperature, the cooling becomes less efficient. In extreme examples, this phenomenon can result in failure of the components because of severely reduced heat transfer to the cooling medium.
To improve the cooling efficiency when using a cooling fluid, apparatus for causing circulation of the cooling medium can be provided. To the extent that the circulation prevents the cooling medium from remaining in the proximity of hot regions and removes the heat transferred to the (now warmed) cooling medium to a different location, this technique greatly improves the cooling efficiency. However, general circulation of the cooling medium may not provide circulation in the specific areas requiring cooling and, more specifically, the hottest portion of component package can be the bottom of the package, a region where a general circulation can be ineffective.
Other techniques that have been used in an attempt to provide cooling for the component packages involve the use of solid cooling materials that conduct heat from the package to a heat sink or provide a large area for the conduction of heat to the surrounding cooling medium. While these techniques have been widely implemented, these techniques typically require manual installation of the conducting path and or heat sink, a process that can be expensive and can result in a bulky and heavy package. This technique can also be relatively inefficient in removing heat from the component package.
A need has therefore existed for a technique that permits the removal of heat from component packages coupled to a circuit board that is more effective then the methods of the related art.